matches. people lashing out over who ultimately pays the bill for medically uninsured americans. take a look. >> reporter: the event remains largely civil. huge crowds overwhelm the meeting hall with hundreds more gathering outside. >> we're very, very scared. >> when the republicans control congress and the senate, why didn't you introduce and pass health care reform? >> my biggest fear is this is going to get rammed down our throats. >> does this look like a mob? >> some estimate as many as another 800 couldn't get in and were locked outside. >> won't even let us in. they've blocked us out. >> my son has the right to live. >> no doubt. >> my son has the right to health care. >> you don't really think you're going to get that, ma'am, in this bill? >> we have to do something. >> that's what i hear from the liberals. we've got to do something. a bad bill is better than nothing, i guess. >> this health care reform town hall meeting in downtown memphis

spawned more than one screaming match. >> i'll make this my first priority and yes, i have read the bill. >> -- taxes. >> please don't yell out, this is america, this is memphis, tennessee, take two aspirin and come back in the morning. >> reporter: boos and cheers greeted ed perlmutter. proof people are passionate when it comes to health care reform. >> i just appreciate the fact that you're all willing to take time to come out. thank you for exercising your civic duty of talking to your congressman. >> scenes like that playing out all over america. and it's not only the crowds losing their cool at these town hall shout downs. listen to georgia congressman david scott get fired up when the topic came up at a town hall meeting just last week. >> not a single one of you had

the decency to call my office and set up for a meeting. okay. then do that! do that! but don't -- don't come and take advantage of what these individuals have done. you want a meeting with me on health care, i'll give it to you. >> well, next hour, we'll tell you why that may not exactly be true in this case and show you much more on this very heated exchange. much, much more on this. in the meantime, who or what is behind the course of decent we're hearing at these town hall meetings. supporters accuse special interest groups, insurance companies, and republican ravel rousers of hijacking the discussion. critics say they have a right to oppose what they see as a government takeover of health care. it is been the partisan point of contention on the sunday talk show circuit.

>> i'll tell you what's wrong with it, when there's a group of people sitting in the middle trying to ask the important questions and get the right answers and instead someone takes the microphone and screams and shouts to the point where the meeting comes to an end, that isn't dialogue, that isn't the democratic process. >> to demonize citizens who are energetic about this strikes me as demonstrating a kind of weakness in your position. in other words, you want to change the subject and rather talk about the habitry of dollar and medicare cuts, let's talk about somebody who misbehaved. >> let's bring in elaine quijano. the administration had dismissed the critics at town halls. now we're hearing there's an effort by democrats to start to control this message. >> yeah, that's right. last week as you said, officials really did try to dismiss this as astro turf, in other words not genuine grass roots organizing. they said this is manufactured anger. but at the same time, it was

interesting to see the white house still took the step of launching a video on youtube featuring linda douglas who is basically the administration's message person when it comes to health care. and so that video was out there, and now we're seeing white house allies coming forward trying to rally supporters to the cause, as well. a group called organizing for america sent an e-mail today telling people to visit their local lawmakers offices trying to counter the message and let lawmakers, counter the protestors' message and let lawmakers know that there are, in fact, people who do support health care reform legislation. >> and i'm sure the administration is aware of this, but they have to be really careful, i think, because you can't lump all of the town halls as extremists, not all of them are extremists. >> reporter: that's exactly right and white house press secretary robert gibbs talked a little bit about this on friday. you know, he basically said, look, the white house just wants the temperature to be lowered a bit here. he said the president, of course, thinks town hall meetings are useful places where discussions can actually happen,

but he said, you know, it's one thing when someone basically objects and respectfully does so. it's another thing when you've got people who are yelling and pushing and shoving and perhaps the threat of violence, he said. that in no way, shape, or form is constructive at all, doesn't really help anybody. >> all right, elaine, thank you very much for that. president barack obama arrives in gau mexico. he should be wheels down in mexico in about 15 minutes. suzanne malveaux joins us live. hello, susan. >> reporter: well, we'll expect the president to arrive in about 20 minutes or so. the first order of business is to sit down with felipe calderon and a working dinner joined by canada's prime minister steven harper. what is happening here informally. there's some serious business these leaders have to deal with in just a day and a half it's going to be a quick summit, no

major announcements, but really meant to set the agenda for these three leaders, three countries, and what you're going to actually hear one of the primary concerns is going to be about the economy, about the recession. all three leaders talking about ways of making sure that they overcome the worst of this and that they are coordinated in their ways of dealing with it. the second thing, don, interestingly enough, i traveled here commercially aside separate from the white house press corps, got a chance in customs first thing that happens, they greet you with sanitizer. this because of concern over the swine flu h1n1 virus that all three leaders are going to be talking about. they expect a resurgence in this flu that happened started originated in mexico, it is going to be a tough flu season, so all three leaders are going to make sure that they have a coordinated effort to make sure that doesn't prohibit people from crossing the border,

commerce, things like that, also on the table, immigration, these are going to be some of the primary topics that they're dealing with in just 36 hours or so, don. >> we shall see. we'll see you in just a little bit once the president does arrive. escalating drug violence in mexico is also bound to come up at that discussion at the summit. cnn's michael ware's covering that part of the story. joining us live at the bottom of the hour. and mark preston joins us right now from washington. mark, with all of the recent focus on health care reform that the president's quick summit many mexico seems like an after thought. what do you make of it? >> no question, and there are serious issues over the next couple of days. canada and mexico strong allies and trading partners for the u.s. but you're absolutely correct. the number one topic here in the u.s. is health care and how it's going to get done. and of course, the escalating violence that we're seeing at some of these health care forums. >> most people would agree that

providing health care for all is really a moral imperative. but the trillion dollar question really is how do you get there? >> no, you're absolutely right, don. and it is, i think many would say with a country as wealthy as the u.s. is how do we not take care of all of our citizens? but that is how do we get to the end result, insure 46 million people and given the fact that the president really has laid a lot on the line, he's put a lot of money into the auto industry, the mortgage industry, the baking industry and now he wants to prop up health care, you know, republicans are pushing back saying where's the money? >> so mark, you know, let's talk about these town halls. all of these town halls and all of the rowdiness we've been seeing happening, what are the risks for democrats and republicans? >> well, don, this is probably the most understated thing we've talked about so far is the political risks to both parties. for democrats, they're describing these folks at these rallies as mobs and saying they're extremists and what have you. let's not forget these are people who do vote, they're

american citizens and you should be able to speak your mind here in the u.s. so they have to walk a fine line when pushing back against some of this mob activity we're seeing. at the same point for republicans when you have supporters out there hanging members of congress in effigy and showing nazi symbolism and stickers, the republican party doesn't want to see that either. >> all right. political risks on both sides. thank you, mark preston. members have earned their reputation as the most feared among the mexican drug cartels. we'll show you why the u.s. is offering a $50 million reward for their capture. michael ware will take you behind the scenes. also, what if your child had only one shot at survival and your health insurance might not cover it? how far would you go to raise money? we'll tell you what one family is doing. also twitter, facebook, myspace, that's how you get in touch with us.

two fights, two family vacations, same horrific end and new york sky. when a small plane and a helicopter collided over the hudson river, nine people are dead and now we're seeing the faces of this tragedy. 60-year-old steve altman was piloting a plane when it apparently slammed into a sightseeing helicopter before noon on yesterday. now, his brother dan and dan's 15-year-old son doug were on

board heading to the jersey shore. already a video tribute of the smiling pennsylvania teen is posted on youtube. in the helicopter, a pilot and five italian tourists celebrating a wedding anniversary, 15-year-old james and his parents were killed in that crash along with 16-year-old filippo and his dad. there are still missing in the murky waters there. and susan candiotti is live where recovery crews have been pulling out bodies and debris since early this morning. what's going on right now? i imagine they're going to end the search once night comes, right? >> reporter: well, don, we can tell you that actually now, just now they have called off the work for the day after working throughout the day to recover more victims. they're calling it off because of an approaching storm and near zero visibility conditions where they've been working. so far today only two of the nine victims as you indicated remain missing from those killed in the crash in the midair

collision when that small plane collided with a sightseeing helicopter. again, they've been working throughout the day since about 7:00 this morning and did locate four more victims. but as we indicated conditions have been extremely difficult working in near zero visibility. >> the divers had extremely challenging conditions with current and visibility, at times the visibility was no more than one foot in front of them. our investigators have advised me that the helicopter sustained significant damage. >> reporter: now, at one point, a crane was brought in to lift the helicopter wreckage from the bottom of the hudson river and brought to a nearby peer. at that time, the investigators put a big blue tarp over the top of it. two victims were trapped inside that wreckage and have been recovered, of course, there'll be a very difficult identification process and, of course, autopsies will be

conducted on all of the victims. we are also learning more tonight, don, about a bit of the history of the sightseeing helicopter sightseeing tour company called liberty. they've been in business since 1986 and today the ntsb revealed according to the own records that the company has had eight accidents since 1995 and just last year there were two accidents and one incident, which is less severe than an accident. this is one of the things many areas of the national transportation safety board will be looking at along with the physical conditions of the pilots, of both aircraft in this case to check on their situation whether there was any possibility of human failure. whether there was mechanical failure, but, of course, the task is just beginning, and the ntsb has a lot of work ahead of them. >> susan candiotti in hoboken, new jersey. thank you, susan. a prison riot raging for over ten hours in pennsylvania.

it's under control tonight, but more than 250 inmates are hurt. roaring flames and flashing police lights outside the bars at the california institution for men in chino hints at the violence that happened inside. 55 prisons are seriously injured, hospitalized with slashes and head wounds from the riot which broke out at about 8:30 last night in a medium-security wing. about 80 officers helped bring the situation under control earlier this morning, no employees or officers were hurt in this. no word on what sparked the violence. mother nature's fury, hope there was no one in that building. take a look at it. we'll take you overseas. wow. plus, mexico's drug violence spills over to the u.s. we'll tell you why police think the mexican mafia is linked to the billings family murder. so what do you think?

i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. at the beginning of this newscast, we told you about the president's trip to mexico, there's air force one in mexico. the president meeting with mexican leaders and leaders in canada, as well to discuss a wide range of issues crossing the borders of all three countries there.

mexico, the u.s. and canada. they're going to be talking about swine flu, trade, climate change, and also drug trafficking. president barack obama arriving in mexico right now. let's move on and talk about the weather overseas, as well, because the typhoon dropping ridiculous amounts of rain right now. let's check out what it did earlier in taiwan. look at that, that is unbelievable there. it's unbelievable amounts of flood waters there, undermining this hotel and bringing down the house. we're told all 300 guests were safely evacuated before the building toppled. take another look, it's being called the worst flooding in taiwan in 50 years. hundreds of houses levelled or destroyed. at least 50 people have died in taiwan and also in the philippines and plenty of people are either missing or unaccounted for. 1 million plus people in southeastern china were

evacuated in advance of morakot. at least one person was reportedly killed when the storm slammed into the chinese coast. morakot may be running out of gas. we're hearing word of less rain and diminishing words as the storm appears to be losing some of its intensity. we turn now to our jacqui jeras. we're talking about a twister in minneapolis in a suburb there and what is going on in taiwan and overseas? >> yeah, the pictures have been incredible. right over here in our google earth, we have a satellite picture to show you where the storm is. here's taiwan right here. the storm made land fall here and the center is over land now. the maximum winds only about 40 miles per hour right now, which will be the equivalent of a tropical storm. and the storm wasn't even that strong when it was over taiwan, by the way. >> what gives? >> it stalled out. it sat there for about 24 hours over the island, and so they literally had nearly 7 feet of water.

>> in a small amount of time. >> just from rainfall, not storm surge, really, really incredible. >> is that the hotel? >> yeah, this is the hotel and that was incredible pictures, as well. this is like a six-story hotel and there you can see it gave way because the ground underneath it all that soil everything got washed away. incredible video of that taking place and they were able to evacuate that hotel, by the way. so we're hearing everybody got out of the way so they're going to continue to have problems with rain in china and this is heading toward shanghai so it's dumping very heavy rain there, a lot of people have relatives here in the u.s., a lot of business travelers heading over there and this is going to be problematic for a good three to five days before we start to see things quiet down. check this out, we've got problems of our own. we've got felicia. you want to come over here and play with this wall, i know it, don lemon. this is felicia, this is a tropical storm, it's not going to do anything compared to the video that we saw there from china and also taiwan.

looks like your satellite picture's kind of jumping a little bit. but 50-mile-per-hour storm, maximum sustained winds. it is heading towards hawaii and could potentially be making landfall here maybe as early as tuesday morning. now, we are expecting that this is going to be bringing in some very, very heavy rainfall. in fact, we could see several inches of rain. so watches have been placed over many of the islands. a direct hit is a possibility, but the storm is expected to continue to weaken, that's a little bit of good news. we don't think the wind will be a big factor. a lot of beaches were closed here today as a result of the big waves coming in. the waves today only maybe 1 to 2 feet or so, but we'll watch them increase, we could see some good 8 footers out there before all is said and done. let's talk about some of the stormy weather. there you can see some pictures out of the twin cities. there was confirmed tornadoes touching down in -- there you can see some of the damage that was caused. we know that a church was

damaged, as well, no injuries reported with that tornado and that just ripped right through the heart of the twin cities right along the northern tier of the suburbs and made it into wisconsin with some funnel clouds. now we do have some severe weather to talk about today, as well. there you can see that we have some watch box lined up across parts of the midwest, over into parts of michigan and we also have severe weather here into the northeast and i want to zoom in, we are listening to susan candiotti earlier talking about the thunderstorms that they're having to stock their recovery mission going on. the storm's moving in, causing major delays in the airways. if you're trying to travel, have a bit of patience, these storms are going to stick around for a couple of hours. >> thank you very much, we appreciate the forecast and the advice. the president's just arriving in gaud lahar ra, mexico, talking about the problems that all three countries face on the borders. they're also going to be doing some talking about the drug

cartel, which is very interesting because our michael ware is in mexico, as well and has been doing unbelievable reporting taking us inside the los zetas. they have earned their reputation as the most feared among the mexican drug cartels. we'll show you why the u.s. is offering a $50 million reward for their capture. and what does a mexican mafia have to do with the murders of a florida couple? one of the latest leads investigators are chasing. and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

president barack obama arrived in guadalajara, mexico moments ago for a three-way summit with the leaders of mexico and canada. we saw him there moments ago getting off of air force one. the three leaders have an aggressive agenda tonight and tomorrow including climate change, swine flu, and international trade. we'll update you on the meetings and all the progress right here on cnn. don't go anywhere. this summit takes place against a backdrop of increasingly deadly violence by mexican drug cartels. an estimated 10,000 people have died in drug-related violence over the past two years. and michael ware recently visited the mexican coastal city where one drug cartel in

particular has emerged as law enforcement's worst nightmare. they are known as los zetas, perhaps one day inside the u.s. >> reporter: the dead always tell a story, and here in mexico, that story is the war raging on america's doorstep. being fought for the right to supply america's demand for illegal drugs. a war becoming more violent, more ruthless, mostly because of one group. to even begin to understand that violence, come with me. here in the southern mexican city of vera cruz. imagine if you will, a band of special forces green beret soldiers go rogue and offer their services and fire power to the drug cartels. well, that's precisely what happened in mexico in the 1990s commandos from the mexican army

deserted and set up their own cartel known as the los zetas. they are a group that the u.s. government now says is is the most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and dangerous cartel operating in mexico. and this is an example of some of their most recent work. and until not so long ago, this was the home to a local police commander, promoted just two months before and at 5:00 a.m. one morning, two cars pulled up in these streets. eight or nine gunmen got out armed with assault rifles and 40 millimeter grenades, they blasted their way into this house and took them less than five minutes to execute the father, the police commander, his wife, a policewoman, and in the blaze that they started to kill four children. this is the drug war in mexico. this is the war that the los

zetas are fighting and this is the war on america's doorstep that shows no sign of ending. and with their fearsome weaponry and military expertise, u.s. agencies considered the zetas america's most formidable enemy in the drug war. >> the zetas have obviously assumed the role of being the number one organization responsible for the majority of the homicides, the narcotic-related homicides, the beheadings, the kidnappings, the extortions that they place in mexico. >> reporter: from this washington, d.c. office, dea central american chief ralph directs america's fight against the zetas, a fight, he says, that will take years. >> they continue to train new recruits through several campaigns. one of them is a very public and open narco banners they place

around the country, specifically tailored to the military in they will offer better pay and better benefits if they join the ranks of the zetas. >> reporter: with their mastery of combat, this organized crime network operates more like a u.s. infantry company patrolling the streets of fallujah in iraq than they do a street gang. and they're only getting stronger. vera cruz is a popular tourist destination with powerful plazas just like this one. but it's actually a thin veneer for what's really going on beneath. local newspapers almost daily have headlines of the horror of the bloody violence of the drug cartels. cartels that here in vera cruz are more often than not linked to the los zetas. the american drug enforcement agency tells me originally based on military lines, it's been built on a business structure. with quarterly meetings,

business ledgers kept, even votes on key assassinations. and now the los zetas are taxing businesses beyond even their drug reach. from human trafficking across the american border to one recent scandal shows, they've been imposing a kind of tax on the mexican government itself. the state-run oil company has just been revealed has been bleeding billions through corrupt officials linked to the los zetas. and as a dea agent told me, the american border makes little difference to the los zetas, to them, it doesn't matter if the violence is on the mexican side of the border or on the american side. on that american side, one of the instruments of assassination, it was just 13 years old when he first killed. >> i love doing it, he says in this police interrogation.

killing that first person, i loved it. i thought i was superman, but you can be certain there are more like him. and there will be until america can defeat adversaries like the los zetas and end the drug wars across the border. >> all right. cnn's michael ware is in guadalajara, mexico. we're going to talk to michael in a little bit about what's happening there and what should the leaders be talking about when it comes to los zetas and the drug cartels. michael's going to join us on the other side of the break. brian says i'm tired of the town halls, insurance companies already pay for lobbyists, get the people who are only there to distract out. joe the mailman says representatives work for the people not the other way around. steven says how do you plan to get across the shouting when all cnn does is cover the fringe side of the issue. says the media needs to stop paying so much attention on these stupid people and focus on the people who don't have

insurance. let's be clear, the purpose of the mob is disturbance and media play not substance and q & a, mission accomplished. administer says, here we go again, people who act like leftists or extremists, at least you admit some aren't. smith says how do i find out where and when town hall meetings are in my area? another viewer says michael ware needs to take some time off. he has worked so hard, seems like he is trying to save the world by himself sometimes. well, michael loves what he does. so we're going to let him do it. twitter, myspace is how you get on the air. we're going to continue our conversation on mexican drug violence, plus how it's spilling over in the u.s. why police think the mexican mafia may have links to the billings family murders.

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chair you need. in fact, if we pre-qualify you for medicare reimbursement and medicare denies your claim, we'll give you your new power chair or scooter free. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. call the number on your screen for free information. all right. before we went to the break, we saw a report from cnn's michael ware about the zetas, mexico's most dangerous drug cartel. michael ware joins us now. michael, thank you very much. the drug violence seems like, you know, extremely urgent issue when it comes to the u.s., to canada, and to mexico,

obviously, we're not hearing that much about it. it doesn't seem like it's that high on the agenda. what can the u.s. expect to get out of this if anything out of this summer? >> reporter: well, don, president obama has, we're told, landed now in mexico, so he should be here in the city of guadalajara, and we do know that the drug war is on the agenda. now, what everyone will be looking out of any discussions about the drug war from president obama is two things. money and guns. america is partnering with the mexican government in the war against the drug cartels, the mexican government is risking everything, mexican president has sent more than 40,000 army troops into the treats of his own city. but one could understand if he feels like he's doing that alone. america has promised $1.4 billion over three years, but

that's four or $500 million a year. now, the head of just one cartel of many, one individual, his net worth is estimated at more than double what america is putting into the drug fight every year. america really is not yet fighting this war. and i think the mexican government will be hoping that obama will have something to bring to the table and something to announce, some real involvement in terms of money. mexico's still waiting on delivery of helicopters that they've been begging for. also guns, the guns that are being used to fight this war are coming from america. this isn't just stopping at the border and increased border control. it means preventing the sales in the first place. mexico's calling for a weapons assault ban. let's see if the obama administration can actually step up on any of these fronts and actually begin to fight the drug war in mexico, don.

>> you know what? michael, a lot of people are asking this. in your report you said it was upwards of $40 billion to $50 billion a year, the drug cartels, at least one of them that they can make, that they can generate. so the question then becomes, why not regulation and taxation, expected now with a sinking economy. if you have that much revenue coming in. >> reporter: well, that's the thing, don. if you look at the grand scheme of this drug war, i mean, it's not about the american border. it starts in the andies of south carolina and goes to the streets of canada. you have production in central america you have warehousing and transshipment of the drugs n pan mat, you have the money laundering and the banking and mexico is the retail end. by the time you get into the united states, that distribution now -- the profit incentive is

not going to go away until america's demand for this multibillion dollar supply of elicit drugs every year perhaps up to $30 billion to $40 billion a year goes away. until this demand disappears. i don't know about you, don, i don't see that american demand disappearing any time soon. america's got some tough choices. it's got to get real about this war. you either send 101st airborne division into mexico and really seal that border which isn't that possible or you start thinking about regulating some of these drugs and taxing them and looking at earning some revenue. there's tough choices ahead for my american administration that really wants to tackle the war on drugs, don. >> cnn's michael ware, we appreciate it. the mexican mafia and the murder of a florida couple known for adopting special needs kids, police say one man links the mob to the murder victims and now

he's being questioned in connection with the deaths of byrd and melanie billings. sean callebs has more on how this investigation is becoming more tangled as time passes. >> reporter: 61-year-old tice was a long time associate of byrd and melanie billings. >> they were business partners in a series of businesses. both in a finance company, which financed cars and other things and, of course, in a couple of small car dealerships. >> reporter: however the relationship soured. tice owed billings about $30,000 and he was arrested thursday on a year old charge of writing more than $17,000 in bad checks to the billings. the sheriff is also not ruling out the billings' murders could be a contact hit. tice was also close to patrick gonzalez jr., the man authorities portray as the ring leader in the murders of the florida couple who adopted 13 children, many with special needs.

>> he's had an ongoing relationship with patrick gonzalez jr. as he described it, a father and son relationship. where they spoke on a daily basis. >> reporter: the sheriff says he's surprised by the information that tice volunteered, like a connection to organized crime. >> he inferred because he got into financial trouble in the business that he made connections with what he referred to as the mexican mafia and secured a loan from them in order for the business not to fail. >> reporter: cnn was unable to locate tice, but he says he had nothing to do with the killings. >> that anybody would say that i had anything to do with the murder of byrd or melanie is a liar. >> reporter: the family issued a statement saying we have faith that sheriff morgan will be diligent in determining whether there is any connection between tice and the murders. authorities say the big break came when someone involved in the murders failed to turn off the billings' security system.

cameras rolled as the gang roamed the house and caught images of the suspects in a red van leaving the house. >> it would not be unrealistic to assume that mr. tice was aware of a security system. he had been in the home many times, also at the office, mr. billings was known to pull up on his security system, his home system so he could observe the children and how the home life was going. >> reporter: tice had been working at this car dealership and living there, as well. tice has since been fired and told to move on. he frequently goes to mexico for business dealings and also travels to colombia. while he remains free on bond, the sheriff told him not to leave this area. sean callebs, cnn, in pensacola, florida. >> all right, sean. lottery for life, a family auctioning off their home by selling lottery tickets in hopes of saving a little boy's life.

okay. notice anything different at the gas pump? like how much extra is costing you to fill up? prices are up nearly 16 cents over the past two weeks. the results of rising crude oil prices. but on the bright side, the national lumberg survey says the rate of increase is slowing, gas prices are still $1.20 cheaper from the same time last year. so a little bit of good news. then there is the job market. unemployment numbers are down, hopes are up, but not too much, cnn money.com poppy harlow joins us live from new york. hello, poppy. you know, i've got to ask you, my first instinct to ask you is this the light at the end of the tunnel? >> but i don't care you can see light this far. >> it's sort of a case we will take what we can get on friday. much better than expected number. the unemployment rate which most thought would go up in july went down .1% in the month of june. and the headline numbers are strong. you've got the health care

sector adding 20,000 jobs, of course, manufacturing and retailers still shedding jobs. but when you take a look at most groups, the picture's improving. look at these numbers when you look by gender, adult men andim. adult men and women, the unemployment rate is dropping slightly for both. look at by race. by race here. for white people down a little bit. hispanics, a different story the unemployment rate rising and for african-americans unemployment down. for hispanics and blacks higher unemployment, much higher than the national average. not all good news here, don. the unemployment rate for folks collecting those checks for more than six months, long-term unemployment, that is at a record high of nearly 5 million people. also you have to know the unemployment rate counts people that are actively looking for work. if they have stopped looking for work and heading back to school in september or frustrated, done

looking all together, or early retirement, they don't count in that number. we have a lot of concerns out there. >> what people are concerned about as they are being laid off and unemployed, benefits. >> we have something i want to point out on cnnmoney.com. unemployment benefits vary per state. michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. 15.2%, but the longest term in terms of unemployment benefits. you have up to 79 weeks. if you are not getting that, look into extending benefits. alabama, 10.1%, still over the national average, 59 weeks there. 20 weeks less than michigan. utah, the story is great relatively speaking. 5.7% unemployment, but they only have 46 weeks of unemployment

benefits. check out that map. make sure you are getting all the benefits you deserve. i want to point out some real people stories. if you are living on unemployment, your benefits have run out, a harsh reality that is going to kick in for many people in far, a gallery that have people dealing with this. mary ortega. she was laid off from a store retail chain. she has been out of work since may 2008. and mary said "our savings are exhausted. it is going to be very tight for the next 45 days. if i don't find a job i truly don't know what i'm going do. we have to get ready, millions of people in the fall have benefits running out.

the administration is talking about if they and congress can extend those further. >> when you hear the rate of unemployment has slowed and you hear that story, not until you have a job do you start feeling -- >> a real story much more than the numbers. want to register to win a home and maybe save a little boy's life in the process? i know it is an odd question. i'll explain. montreal's system is trading toxic taxis and subways for pedal power. gary tuchman has cnn's edge of discovery. >> reporter: downtown montreal is the hustle and bustle of many modern cities. there is a new public transportation system taking an old-fashioned approach. it is called bixi. a combination of the word bike and taxi. >> the bike is sturdy and easy to manage.

perfect getting through traffic easier. >> reporter: users can buy a yearly pass for $78 or a one day access for five bucks. then they grab a bike at the conveniently located stations and pedal to their destination. >> we have had the casual tourist. business people. >> reporter: the stations run on solar power. officials estimate in the two months since the bixi system rolled out, riders have taken 300,000 trips, saving 40,000 gallons of gas. they are hoping montreal's strong start sets an example that catches on around the world. >> we have submitted proposals to the city of london and boston. we have given ourselves objectives to set the bar and reaction shows we have, indeed, set the bar. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn.

and an environment in balance. between consuming less and conserving more. there is one important word: how. and it is the how that makes all the difference. to the planet we all share.

a hundred bucks gets your name in the pot for a lakeside home and you can help save a little boy's life at the same time. it is a heck of a gamble this family hopes will pay off.

diana davis from wsb in atlanta has the story. >> this is the house we are ralphing off. >> reporter: this house could save payton thornton's life. he was born with a rare skin condition, his skin blisters and tears at the slightest touch. >> does it hurt? you are pretty tough, though, ain't you? anything past 13 is going to be worse. >> reporter: payton has spent his life in bandages. >> the hands are starting to mitten from the scarring. >> reporter: university of minnesota researchers transplant umbilical cord stem cells to make healthy collagen. >> every child that had it made unbelievable strides. >> reporter: the thornons are expecting a baby who is a match. >> do you think mama's baby is a

boy or a girl? >> a girl. >> she is going to help you get rid of your ab, ain't she? what is she going to do? she is going to give you new blood? >> mm-hmm. >> will you be glad? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: payton's cousin is ralphing off her house for $100 a ticket. it had been on the market for years. the idea for a fund-raiser came at her grandmother's funeral. >> payton's grandmother was there. >> reporter: 1,300 tickets have been sold. they need 3500. the baby is born january 1st. thorntons hope that will be the start of two lives. >> reporter: if they do not sell enough tickets, each buyer who bought a ticket will get a